Friday, 28 October 2016

67% reduction of wildlife numbers by 2020

Every
two years, the World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of
London report on the health of the planet with an updated index of
wildlife populations. This year, the numbers are especially bleak:
Populations have already declined on average by 58 percent between
1970 and 2012. And unless we act quickly, we risk a decline of 67
percent by 2020. That's more than two-thirds of wildlife on this
planet lost in just one lifetime.

The
Living Planet Report 2016 tells us that land-based populations
have experienced a 38 percent decline. Ocean populations have
declined by 36 percent. And freshwater populations have suffered a
staggering 81 percent decline.

Despite
all our efforts, the trend is moving in the wrong direction and we
have only ourselves to blame. The pressures on wildlife are
human-caused: Habitat loss and fragmentation due to climate change,
land-use decisions and pollution are some of the most significant
drivers of wildlife decline.

According
to the report, the global population consumes each year the renewable
resources of 1.6 Earths.

It's
often said that the world needs more Canada, but how do we compare?
We know that in Canada, our ecological footprint is even greater: If
all the world lived like Canadians, we would need 4.7 Earths.

We
are consuming more than nature can deliver. And wildlife is paying
the price. A mass migration has already begun as wildlife move in
reaction to changing seasons, to find water, to escape wildfires, to
go where sea ice once prevented them from going.

Clearly,
something has to give. The Living Planet Report identifies key
systems to target first, including fuel and finance. To limit warming
to just 1.5 C (which could still mean 5 C warming in the Arctic), we
must accelerate the widespread transition to habitat-friendly
renewable energy. And we must devise an economic measure that takes
the environment into account.

WWF-Canada
is pioneering approaches to renewable energy deployment that is
habitat friendly for every energy type: on land, in freshwater,
marine and Arctic environments.

Michel
Gunther / WWF

Measuring
the growth of GDP as our main policy goal won't work in the long term
because GDP fails to measure the cost of environmental destruction.
Growth sounds like a good goal, but we are beginning to reach the
limits of what is possible. Instead, we need to think in terms of
prosperity for all. And with this new goal, we need new economic
measures that include the value of benefits we derive from a healthy
environment (like fish to eat, clean water to drink and air to
breathe) and the environmental costs of production and consumption
that are currently being borne by all wildlife, including people.

We
know we can live—and prosper—within nature's limits. To get
there, we need a more sophisticated equation. Carbon pricing is a
significant first step.

But
it's not enough. Canada is home to 20 percent of the world's
freshwater supply and 10 percent of the world's remaining forests. We
have the ability to protect significant portions of the Atlantic,
Pacific and Arctic oceans. Considering the interconnectedness of
Earth's systems, Canada has a unique responsibility to protect
biodiversity.

Wildlife
in Canada, too, are facing increasing pressure from climate change,
habitat loss and industrialization. The destruction of habitats and
ecosystems hurts us all, as these habitats provide food, energy and
materials vital to human survival as well. We can do better.

World
Wildlife Fund-Canada works with communities, industry and academia to
devise, test and implement on-the-ground solutions to the problems
that threaten wildlife and their habitat. In the course of that work,
we also make policy recommendations to government in hopes of
creating conditions for success. Some of these recommendations are
stated publicly, others are included in testimony for government
committees and rarely see the light of day. Given the magnitude of
the findings in the 2016 Living Planet Report, we have put them
together this list of 15 steps Canada can take now to protect
biodiversity. For all wildlife, including us. Before it's too late.

1 comment:

I almost found this article interesting until I read that "climate change" was part of the blame. Really? Existing wildlife has been on this planet at warmer times than this or even where the planet may or may not be warming to. Total nonsense. If anything, a warmer climate could be beneficial to wildlife. Can anyone tell me what the perfect earth temperature is? I'm sympathetic to wildlife and would like to ensure it endures, but I have to throw out this entire article because of the simple mention of climate change.